The Daily Telegraph reports
AUSTRALIAN film and television productions need continued tax breaks or the industry faces being eroded and its talent diluted, actress Sigrid Thornton said.
Delivering the National Film & Sound Archive’s Longford Lyell lecture in Melbourne last night, Thornton reflected on her decades-long career in the industry both here and overseas.
A bipartisan commitment to subsidise the industry for cultural reasons had underpinned and sustained it over the years.
"Without them we would not have survived as an industry, albeit we are small industry,'' Thornton told AAP ahead of the lecture.
"By virtue of our population, we cannot expect to survive as an industry without government assistance and support.''
A regulatory quota framework for television provided the continuity of production, Thornton said.
"The cultural argument that we need to tell our stories using Australian voices has been the historical basis for government investment in our industry,'' she said in the lecture.
"It also seems to speak to a widespread public hunger.''
A refundable tax offset for producers of Australian projects had proved a very positive mechanism and should be safeguarded, Thornton said.
"Industry and government need to be vigilant and exercise care in defining the elements that are to constitute an Australian film for the offset rebate,'' she said.
"The push to dilute and erode Australian cast and Australian writer involvement in eligible projects could undermine the integrity and the legitimacy of productions.''
Increased quotas of local programs for the ABC, SBS and subscription television could also be considered.
"I believe we also need to consider the potential value of ramping up production to produce more stories on lower budgets, using the same funding pool and mechanisms,'' she said.
Increased production would mean more opportunities to tell more stories and the chance to "develop our skills as a filmmaking community''.
Thornton said while there were many who disagreed with her, Australia should probably take the hit and make more films on lower budgets to allow industry growth.
"On a historical basis, it's reasonably clear the size of the budget has not determined the likelihood of those breaking through - both on the global and international market - in terms of market success,'' she told AAP.
"My argument would be to support and underpin the growth of the industry, it would be a favourable outcome if we were to have a stronger output.''
Overseas success of local productions was an added bonus to communicate the uniqueness of Australia.
But populating the Australian landscape with imported actors or repackaged overseas content using taxpayer funding should be resisted, Thornton said.
"Actual market returns don't bear much scrutiny, but Australian taxpayers are prepared to underwrite the production of Australian stories in order to see their characters reflected on their screens.
"It would be all too easy to be distracted and flattered while a larger and stronger culture increasingly weakens a smaller and less robust one.''
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